Adhesion of halopolymers to nylon

Abstract: A new curable compounded halopolymer that exhibits in the cured state good to excellent adhesion to polyamides. The curable halopolymer achieves better adhesion due to a balance of carbon black relative to talc, preferable with the cyclohexyl benzothiazole sulfenamide or related benzothiazole sulfenamide. This invention is highly desirable in making specialty hoses and belts.

Description: Field of the Invention This invention relates to a method of curing a halopolymer to give an improved adhesive bond to a polyamide and to the resulting laminate. More particularly, this invention relates to the production of a shaped laminated body having a halopolymer adhered to a polyamide layer to give the shaped laminate improved properties in adhesion and resistance to chemicals. Specifically, this invention relates to the manufacture of improved articles such as belts and hoses and to said articles per se having an adhesive bond exhibiting an adhesion of at least 4,1 N cm -2 (6 pounds per square inch) between the cured halopolymer and the polyamide and preferably 4,8 N cm -2 (7 psi) or more. Background Hoses for refrigeration and air conditioning systems, such an automobile air conditioners present problems in requiring flexible tubing or hoses of high strength capable of withstanding relatively high temperatures. With the fluorocarbon refrigerants, difficulty is experienced with the hose material loosing the fluorocarbons and cracking. Consequently, laminates of different rubbers have come into wide use but problems are still experienced with the laminate delaminating due to poor adhesion between the laminate members and cracking of the rubbers due to presence of certain metal salts such as those formed between halogen of the halopolymer and the alkali and alkaline earth oxides of the curing recipes. Also, heretofore, it has been necessary to use a tie gum to get good adhesion between a halopolymer layer and a core of polyamide. JP-A- 63 242 539 discloses a hose useful for transportation of freon gas. The inside tube is formed of a chlorine containing synthetic rubber comprising e. g. chlorinated PE, MgO, carbon black, plasticiser, peroxide and talc. US-A- 5 149 732 discloses a rubber composition for use in a composite hose for the attachment of the hose to a metal fitting. The composition comprises a base rubber, an organic filler, a silane coupling agent and a vulcanizing agent. Disclosure of the Invention A laminated article such as a belt or hose is provided comprising a core layer of a polyamide having adhered preferably directly to it a layer of a halopolymer to give an adhesive bond of 5 and preferably of 6 or more pounds per square inch. This adhesive bond is achieved by compounding the halopolymer with a bis-dienophile crosslinker, alkali and/or alkaline earth oxide to neutralize the halogen acids formed, a peroxide or sulfur curative in amounts customarily used together with about 25 to about 70 and preferably about 35 to about 55 parts of carbon black and about 8 to about 70 and preferably about 30 to about 55 parts of talc. It is amazing to discover that by adjusting the amount of carbon black and talc used in compounding the halopolymer, the resulting cured halopolymer has adhesion sufficient to eliminate the need for a tie gum in forming the halopolymer polyamide laminate. Description of the Drawing The figure is a perspective view, segmentally seen and part cut away, of a hose construction of one embodiment of this invention. With reference to the drawing a composite hose 10 is shown. The hose 10 has a core 20 of a polyamide such as those commercially designated as nylon-6, nylon-66, nylon-8, nylon-10, nylon-11, nylon-12, nylon-666, nylon-610 and related or like polyamides or polyamide-polyether copolymers. Normally, the polyamide is extruded as a hollow tube. Numeral 30 designates a compounded halopolymer applied over the polyamide core. Preferably the compounded halopolymer is extruded over the core 10 to adhere the two layers together. It should be noted that this invention does not require the inclusion of an adhesive or tie gum as is the usual practice when forming laminates with polyamides. Thus, the manner in which the halopolymer is compounded and cured gives the cured compounded halopolymer sufficient adhesive ability to yield a satisfactory laminate with polyamides. If desired, a reinforcing member 40, such as fabric filaments is applied or wrapped over the compounded halopolymer layer in the customary hose reinforcing technique. After the reinforcing layer is wrapped over the compounded halopolymer an additional layer 50 of compounded halopolymer may be extruded over the hose. Alternatively, other rubber covers, such as EPDM, may be applied depending on the service and economics of manufacture. The Pilkington, et al U.S. Patent No. 4,633,912 describes the customary method of making these hoses but requires the use of an adhesive or tie gum to get satisfactory adhesion and resistance to delamination between the polyamide and the halopolymer. The disclosure of U.S. Patent No. 4,633,912 is hereby incorporated by reference to supply the description of the various compounded ingredients and their amounts. A chlorobutyl rubber stock was compounded in the amounts shown in Table 1 with the ingredients shown. The accelerator shown in Table 1 is N-cyclohexyl-2-benzothiazole sulfenamide. A sheet of the compounded chlorobutyl rubber was applied to a sheet of nylon and cured for 40 minutes at 155°C. Then the adhesion was run on the cured laminate and the adhesion is as shown. It was observed and discovered that at about 30 to about 35 parts of talc to about 40 to about 45 parts of carbon black the adhesion was optimum. This direct bonding compound is free of classical in-situ bonding agents and is capable of forming stock tear adhesive bonds during vulcanization of the rubber in intimate contact with the nylon. This result is not obvious to those skilled in the art and not apparent from previous teachings. Similar results are obtainable with bromobutyl rubber. The curable compounded halopolymers of this invention can be used beneficially in making belts where a polyamide layer is used or needed. For example, a belt can be plied up with rubber coated fabric and a ply of fabric coated with the curable compounded halopolymer can be used to adhere the polyamide or nylon ply to the rest of the belt, for instance, to give the belt a face ply for handling specific materials.

Claims: A curable composition of a halopolymer capable of exhibiting in a cured state an improved adhesion to a polyamide characterized by 100 parts of a halopolymer compounded with a bis-dienophile as a crosslinker, alkali and/or alkaline earth oxide, a peroxide or sulfur curative, 25 to 70 parts of carbon black and 8 to 70 parts of talc. The composition of claim 1 wherein the curative is N-cyclohexyl-2-benzothiazole sulfenamide. The composition of claim 1 wherein the halopolymer is chlorobutyl rubber. The composition of claim 1 wherein the carbon black is 35 to 55 parts and the talc is 30 to 55 parts. A hose (10) characterized by an inner core (20) of polyamide covered with a layer (30) of a cured halopolymer, containing a bis-dienophile, a halogen neutralizer selected from the class of alkali and alkaline earth oxides and their mixtures, a peroxide or sulfur curative and a filler loading on a 100 parts of halopolymer basis, of 25 to 70 parts of carbon black and 8 to 70 parts of talc. The hose (10) of claim 5 wherein the halopolymer layer (30) is covered with a reinforcing member or layer (40) and a covering of another rubber layer (50). The hose (10) of claim 5 wherein the cured halopolymer is bromobutyl rubber. The hose (10) of claim 5 wherein the carbon black is 35 to 55 parts and the talc is 30 to 55 parts. The use of the curable composition of claim 1 for fabricating part of a belt.

Inventors: SAUPE TIMOTHY PAUL, SAUPE, TIMOTHY PAUL
Applicants: GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER, THE GOODYEAR TIRE & RUBBER COMPANY
Application year: 1994
Main classification: C08K5
IPC codes: B29D23, F16L11, C08K3, C08J5, B32B27, B32B25, B29K77, C08L23